Ocala Church May Be Latest Arson Victim

October 25, 1991|By Patty Shillington And Judy Plunkett Miami Herald

A devastating fire ripped through the dark sanctuary of First Baptist Church of Ocala early Thursday, destroying the red-brick landmark that had defined a downtown block since 1873. The damage: $4 million or more. The cause: suspected arson.

''It's one of the most important landmarks in this community,'' said fire battalion chief Barry Britton, his voice cracking. ''Everybody's terribly saddened.''

It was the worst of five suspicious Florida church fires in the past week - including three in Gainesville and one in Lake City. And a statewide task force is comparing this recent string of fires with a hauntingly similar pattern last winter, when 11 churches in Florida burned in less than a month.

The task force is investigating two church fires in Brevard County and one in Sanford. The All Saints Deliverance Church in Sanford was destroyed in last February, but Sanford investigators said the fire does not appear to be related to other church arsons. Last March the Church of Religious Science and the Church of God, both on Merrit Island, were damaged by fire.

The recent fires:

- Last Friday in Lake City, someone broke into the First Presbyterian Church by climbing through a window. A fire, reported at 2:40 a.m., caused $200,000 damage. ''There was nothing in there to cause a fire, outside of someone setting it,'' said Lake City Fire Chief Wayne Roseke.

- Tuesday at 8:30 a.m., smoke from a suspicious fire damaged the United Church of Gainesville. A banner was found burned in the chapel, but the blaze didn't spread because it landed on fire-resistant carpet. There were signs of a break-in.

- Tuesday at 11:30 p.m., fire destroyed the First Church of Christ, Scientist, in Gainesville after someone broke in.

- Wednesday at 3 a.m., a fire broke out at the North Central Baptist Church in Gainesville, also after a burglary. A flammable liquid had been sprayed on a stained glass window. Damage was estimated at between $25,000 and $30,000. A suspicious fire last January caused about the same amount of damage.

A special team of investigators is probing the fires in Gainesville, which lost a downtown landmark to arson last winter. Holy Trinity Episcopal, built in 1907, is now restoring its sanctuary.

This week's fires may well be related. ''The breaking and entering style was similar,''said Stuart Schwartz, the Gainesville Fire Rescue Department's district chief.

In Tallahassee, a statewide Church Arson Task Force, formed after last winter's fires, added this week's blazes to its list. Members won't discuss the investigation. But spokeswoman Karen Chandler said arson was confirmed in many of the 14 fires between January and March that the task force has looked into. Arson was not ruled out in any of the fires.

No arrests have been made. No suspects have been named.

News of the fires spread quickly to Winter Haven, where six churches were set on fire Feb. 4-7.

''My husband was telling me, 'Can you believe it has started again?' '' said Linda Polster, secretary at Inman Park Baptist Church in Winter Haven. ''I thought, 'Oh no, we've just gotten back into the sanctuary.' We replaced just about everything - the carpet, the pews, the sound system.''

Thursday afternoon in Ocala, some of the nearly 3,000 members of First Baptist dropped by the blackened remains of their three-story church, which burned from 3:38 to 8 a.m.

''It's a tragedy and there's a lot of pain,'' said the Rev. Ron Sylvia. ''But First Baptist hasn't ceased to exist because the building was burned. The church is the people, and we're going to go on.''